An intriguing weekend ahead for ladies football

SENIOR Thursday in Bray at 8pm

Bray Emmets v Clara Bray have been steadily building and currently have a nice mix of youth in the form of the Butler girls and Allanah McEvoy allied to the seasoned campaigners like Aoife Gillan, Eadaoine Lenihan, Mikaela Shelly and Aisling Ni Annaidh.

Clara on the other hand will sorely miss Sarah Miley although her sister Katie will try her upmost to support Naoise Baker, Georgina Canavan and Sammy McCoy in their effort to gain the first points in the group.

A tough match but Bray with their more experienced girls on show are given the vote on this occasion.

Friday in Tinahely at 8pm Tinahely v St Patrick’s Probably the tie of the round as Tinahely, the current champions, set out in their quest to retain the title.

Of course backbones by their county stars they certainly on paper are favorites but St Patrick’s are well capable of a performance and will try to overturn the champs with the likes of Niamh and Rioghna McGettigan, Clodagh Fox, Niamh O’Brien pushing the Tinahely girls.

In fairness the Tinahely girls in turn will expect the Hogans (Laura and Sarah), Emily Mulhall, Jackie Kinch, Aoife Gorman, Jessie, Rachael and Ciara Byrne along with the expected return of Loretta Gilbert and the recently transferred Shauna Bermingham to show far too much fire power for the St Patrick’s girls to handle. So it’s a southern victory expected from this encounter.

Saturday in Baltinglass at 7.30pm

Baltinglass v Valleymount Valleymount in fairness are in the process of building their team back up and they have Eimear Miley and the Kavanagh girls bolstered by the likes of Ali Miley, Annie and Katie Maguire, along with Lillie May Summer Dunne.

However Baltinglass are a seasoned crew with their eyes set on serious progress in the championship.

They field on Saturday however without their talismanic captain Sarah Jane Winder but they have replacements in abundance with Caroline Dempsey, Geraldine Norton, Marie Kealy, Hannah and Helena Dowling, Sarah Hennessy and Chloe Farrell all well capable of producing the required goods in what may be a long evening for the red and whites.

Saturday in Ballymoney at 5.30pm

AGB v Blessington Another of the major clashes of the weekend sees AGB go against Blessington in and eagerly awaited clash.

Blessington have been steadily building and are now backboned by county stars Molly Cullen, Kim Connors, Shauna Byrne and Amy Ryan with the likes of Shona O’Connor likely also to figure prominently while the more seasoned players like Maura Reid will lend a steel to their defence.

AGB for their part are an exciting squad and once again look to cross the divide to championship glory having experienced reaching the final last year.

AGB will expect to have Annie Conroy, Aine O’Reilly, Stephanie Martin, Rachael Byrne and Sarah Cunningham very much to the fore and perhaps a draw may be a result both sides could live with as the squads on paper seem evenly matched.

However a tough hard match which should keep the punters on the edge of their seats throughout the afternoon.

INTERMEDIATE Wednesday in Tinahely at 7.30pm

Tinahely v St Nicholas Both these sides played earlier this month and a facile victory was recorded by the Tinahely girls.

However this is championship and I would expect a stronger showing by the Dunlavin girls in this one.

Certainly in the Grace sister’s (Aoife and Claire) and Sarah Reid they have the skill to unlock many defences if provided with enough quality ball and their own defence with Rachel Murtagh to the fore is strong if everyone is available.

Tinahely will be hard to call as they may lose a few to Senior ranks but if the likes of Loretta Gilbert is playing she would be a handful for any back division and with the likes of some of their younger players like Aisling Winterbotham, Emma Katus and Dervla Byrne a win for the southerners is expected.

Thursday in Enniskerry at 8pm

Clanna Gael v Carnew Emmets A difficult match to call as both sides have had patchy league form and it really depends on who plays on both sides to see who will prove victorious. Enniskerry have Tara Costello and players like Shauna Kearns to rely on while Carnew, with Ella Doran and Shelly Doran along with Claire and Chloe Turner and Tia and Lauren Byrne, will push the home side hard it is thought maybe a home win but this one may be the tightest of all the matches this weekend.

JUNIOR Thursday, in Roundwood at 7.30pm

An Tochar v Kilbride

An Tochar will be warm favourites for this tie. Amy Murphy will spearhead their attack with Orla Molloy manning her usual midfield position and a strong youthful support alongside her including Jess Scott (if recovered) and Aoife Murtagh may give them the edge. For their part Kilbride may be bolstered by the previously injured Claire Walsh and with Caitriona McKeon in her usual centre back spot supported by Nikki Donohoe in defence the western side may give the An Tochar defence some anxious moments. However it would be expected that the Roundwood girls will have too much for the westerners on this occasion

Saturday in Wicklow Town at 7pm

St Patrick’s v Eire Og St Patrick’s strength at juvenile ranks makes this match a difficult obstacle for the Eire Og team. Eire Og have rejoined the adult ranks this year but it may take a few years to strengthen the side despite the efforts recently within the Greystones club. St Patricks who also have a senior squad on duty this week have quite a pick and with the likes of Sinead McGettigan, Mel Clarke, Liz Malone, Leona Franey, Amy Kavanagh, Weronika Kuzio and Sarah Evans to drive the team forward the Eire Og side will rely on Kellie Ryder, Eva Roche, Ellie O’Neill, Katie Lawless, Aoife McTeague and Rachel Purcell to keep the Pats girls at bay. A confident vote is given to St Patrick’s in this neighbourly tie.

Saturday in Ballymoney at 7pm AGB v Barndarrig

It is hard to see anything other than a win for the home side with Barndarrig struggling at this level. The AGB girls are flying at the moment and although the team is picked mainly from their juvenile ranks the team is very strong with veteran Ger Galvin alongside Meadbh O’Connor, Aine O’Reilly, Grace Hurley and Clodagh Healy and while the Barndarrig side led as usual by Alison Shanley will fight hard the AGB girls should take the brace of points on offer in this first round robin match.